As of: 21 September 2026

Wild camping at the Gelmersee

Nothing in federal, cantonal or communal law forbids a night at the Gelmersee. There is nowhere to lie down. The pin is water, the basin is granite slabs and a gravel fan, the fifty-metre shore ring is the power company's works parcel and the company publishes that camping is not allowed, and in 2026 the lake is drawn down for works. The night is in the Gelmerhütte, or on the alp flat 1.6 km up the Diechter.

Leon Helg
Leon Helg · Legal situation checked in September 2026 · Published 21 September 2026
What do these mean?

Illegal A specific rule bans it, usually with a fine, and it can be enforced. Sleep somewhere else.

Not allowed No real place to camp here. A gated site, a developed area, or nowhere sensible to lie down, even if no fine is attached.

It depends You can sleep here, but there's a condition first: ask the landowner, book a spot, stay inside a set zone, or use a bivvy instead of a tent. The report says which.

Tolerated No rule clearly allows or bans it, but a single night is accepted in practice and nobody enforces against it. Normal for high bivouacs above the treeline.

Legal Camping one night is fine here. Either a rule allows it, or we checked every law and found nothing against it. Still: pitch late, leave early, no trace.

What "wild camping" means here: one night. A small tent or a bivvy bag, up at dusk, gone in the morning. Not a base camp, not a camper van. Most Swiss bans are written against camping; whether a single night also falls under them depends on the exact wording, so this article checks that wording. The full difference: wild camping vs bivouacking.

The pin is water, and the shore is a drawdown band with scaffolding on it

The coordinate everyone shares for the Gelmersee lands in the middle of the reservoir, so the first question is where a person could even lie down. A slope scan of the 900 metres around the lake, with the water masked out, finds only twelve dry cells at or under seven degrees, and every one of them resolves to something other than a pitch. Three sit on the stepped downstream face and the foot of the 35 metre gravity dam and on the flat by the Gelmerbahn's top station: the operator's works area, closed in 2026 because the dam crest is a building site. Two are the boulder fan where the Diechterbach enters at the north tip. Three are a slab bench 480 metres of pathless granite above the north shore. The rest are the gravel cone of the Alplibach at the east end, which rises at eighteen percent from the water and holds one strip thirty metres wide at four to five degrees, thirty-three metres from the shore, two metres above full pool, in green-alder scrub, on a torrent that the operator itself warns "können ... plötzlich stark ansteigen".78

And the lake is not at full pool. Kraftwerke Oberhasli is relining the pressure shaft between the lake and the Handeck 1 power station, with pipes flown in until 2027; the funicular's valley station is being rebuilt; the dam crest is closed for the whole 2026 summer; and Hotel Handeck warns its guests of blasting in the evenings. The operator's own webcam frame of 20 September 2026 at 13:00 shows what that means on the ground: the water standing well below the crest, a pale band of bare rock ringing the basin, scaffolding, a works pontoon, ducts and a site container at the intake. The canton's fishing office described the same shore during the 2021 emptying as "die schlickigen Ufer ... des abgesenkten Sees", silty banks that "sollen ... nicht begangen werden". That is the drawdown band the guide entry has always warned about, and it is real.57

One correction to that guide entry, because this report exists to be precise. The Gelmersee is not "below the treeline" in the sense of closed forest: the last forest polygons end around 1'560 metres on the Handegg flank, three hundred metres lower, and the basin at 1'850 metres sits in the belt of green alder and single Arven that runs up to about 2'100 metres here. The treeline is not what decides this spot. The ground and the operator do.8

No law forbids a night here, and this report walked every layer to say so

Federal. The lake and every candidate cell lie in BLN object 1507, "Berner Hochalpen und Aletsch-Bietschhorn-Gebiet (nördlicher Teil)", whose sheet mentions the Gelmersee as scenery built in 1929. The BLN binds authorities in their decisions and fines no camper. No federal game reserve, no wildlife rest zone, no park, floodplain, mire, amphibian, Ramsar, Emerald, forest-reserve or military layer answers at the pin or at any cell, with the bogus-layer control returning an error and the positive control returning the Kiental reserve, both in the same run.1

Cantonal. Canton Bern has no camping or bivouac norm of general application; this series has established that three times in this valley and re-read the forest act, the forest ordinance, the water-use act and the nature act for this report, with controls, and found no tent, no camping and no bivouac in any of them, and nothing in the water-use act about public access to reservoir shores. The cantonal wildlife protection ordinance is the layer that bans camping in 28 Bernese areas, and the only one of its areas within three kilometres of this lake is Nr. 26 "Kunzentännlen-Hinterstock", 191 hectares west of the dam, whose binding text reads in full: "Hunde sind an der Leine zu führen. Der Betrieb von zivilen, unbemannten Luftfahrzeugen (Modellflugzeuge, Drohnen) ist verboten." Dogs on a lead, no drones, and a hunting restriction; no tent word. It contains the three dam-foot cells and stops 1.2 kilometres short of the east delta. The real camping ban of this region, the Grimsel nature reserve Nr. 5 with its "Anzünden von Feuern, Kampieren und das Aufschlagen von Zelten", starts 3.3 kilometres south on the Räterichsboden side of the Juchlistock; the whole Gelmer and Diechter basin is outside it, and the property cadastre lists cantonal nature reserves as not concerning any of the four parcels here.23

Communal. Guttannen publishes 31 regulations and no police regulation, no fixed-penalty regulation and no camping act; the count was redone for this report and nothing has been added since the Wannisbortsee research of 9 September. Its building regulation puts the basin in a Landschaftsschutzgebiet under art. 463, a construction clause about buildings and terrain changes with a fine attached to building breaches, nothing about sleeping. The cantonal gazette's register of judicial prohibitions returns zero for Guttannen, for Gelmer and for the power company, against controls of 554 prohibitions and 393 Guttannen entries.4

So the chip does not say "Illegal", because it cannot. Nobody can be fined for a tent at the Gelmersee under any text this report could find. That is where most reports would stop and print a yes. Two more facts stop this one.42

The shore ring is the power company's parcel, and the power company says no

The property cadastre, read with geometry, draws the basin in three parcels. Parcel 834 is the reservoir itself, 61.9 hectares of water. Parcel 76 is a ring of roughly fifty metres around the whole shore, with the reservoir as its hole, running down the funicular corridor to Handegg: 169 hectares that carry the dam, the intake of the pressure shaft, the works railway and the top station. Everything outside the ring, north, east and south, is parcel 875, the 28 square kilometre alp parcel that also holds the Wannisbortsee. The east delta strip, the north-shore cells, the dam foot and the west shoulder all sit on parcel 76. The operator's own building applications name parcel 76 for its intake and its works, no farmer has registered a square metre of it as pasture, while the cells on parcel 875 outside the ring are registered summer pasture. Canton Bern does not publish its land register, so this report cannot show a title extract; it says instead what the evidence is, and the evidence is the works parcel of the concessionaire.5

"Das Übernachten in Wohnmobilen und das Campieren sind hier nicht erlaubt. Bitte benützen Sie die offiziellen Camping- und Stellplätze."Grimselwelt, the visitor arm of Kraftwerke Oberhasli, guest information "Campieren & Parkieren", consulted 20 September 2026.

In English: overnighting in motorhomes and camping are not allowed here, please use the official campsites and pitches. The linked "No camping" poster, in a 2021 and a 2022 edition carrying the names of the Einwohnergemeinde Guttannen and Innertkirchen, maps the whole Grimselwelt including the Gelmerbahn and the Gelmersee and lists the alternatives: the campsites at Innertkirchen, Gadmen and Engstlen, the motorhome pitches at Guttannen Dorf and Handeggli. No page on the site says anything different for the Gelmersee itself; the lake's own page adds only that "sein Wasserstand kann daher je nach Nutzung und laufenden Arbeiten variieren" and that the dam is closed in 2026.67

What that notice is, and what it is not. It is not a statute: no article, no authority, no franc amount, no court, and the Grimselwelt page that calls water sport on the reservoirs "gesetzlich verboten" names no law either. It fails every test this series applies to a board before calling a spot "Illegal". It is the published position of the landowner of the shore ring, and on a landowner's own ground that is enough to send you elsewhere: a night against the owner's stated no is the Gadenlouwisee class of situation, which this series grades "Not allowed", not "Illegal", and which no reader should test for a bivvy on a gravel fan two metres above a reservoir. The alp parcel above the ring has no such notice, no board and no named rule, and its holder is not named anywhere public. That is where the next section goes.46

Where the ground actually is: the Diechter flat and the hut

The bed. The Gelmerhütte SAC of the Brugg section stands at 2'412 metres two kilometres north-north-east of the lake, up the Diechter valley above the north tip, rebuilt for its centenary in 2026: 50 places, half board CHF 103, SAC members CHF 83, plus CHF 3 visitor's tax, warded to a planned season end on 25 October 2026, hut phone 033 973 11 80, booking through the SAC system. From the funicular's top station it is two hours and 550 metres up, 15 minutes more along the south shore; from the Kunzentännlen car park on the Grimsel road, three hours via the lake. The hut's pages contain no tent rule.9

The flat. On the hut path, 1.6 kilometres north-north-east of the lake and 480 metres short of the hut, the Diechterbach runs through a bench of alp ground at 2'177 to 2'181 metres, LV95 2'668'830 / 1'164'570 to 1'164'640, twenty-seven contiguous ten-metre cells at 0.6 to 4 degrees, roughly fifty by seventy metres, grass between blocks, above the alder belt. It sits on parcel 875, registered summer pasture, two kilometres from the Kunzentännlen reserve, 4.7 kilometres from the Grimsel reserve, in no rest zone, under the same construction-only landscape clause as everything else in the commune. No norm reaches it, no board has been published for it, and nobody has published who holds the pasture: the Bäuertgemeinde Guttannen, which runs Alp Handegg on this flank, is the plausible holder and is reachable (info@baeuertgemeinde-guttannen.ch, Obfrau Barbara Willener 079 252 01 10), but that is a guess this report labels as one. A night there is a tip, not this article's verdict, and it comes with the hut's warden 480 metres away: tell them, and keep off the building site.810

Nobody offers a paid or informal pitch at the lake, and this report invents none. The operator's poster points to Handeggli and Guttannen Dorf for a vehicle, and to the hotels: Hotel Handeck at the valley station, 33 double rooms, open to 25 October 2026, 033 982 36 11, with its 2026 warning of blasting "abends und in der ersten Hälfte der Nacht".610

The funicular, the last bus, fire and the hunt

The Gelmerbahn is the operator's works funicular, 106 percent, twelve minutes, 24 people a trip, running 6 June to 25 October 2026; in September and October from 9:00 to 16:00 with the last ride up at 15:48 and the last ride down at 16:00, in July and August to 16:48. Adults CHF 40 return, CHF 20 single, children 6 to 15 half. Online booking is urged and vouchers must be exchanged at the valley station at least fifteen minutes before departure; there is no ticket sale at the top. In 2026 the valley station is reached over "steile Treppen und provisorische Wanderwege", about fifteen minutes from the car park or the bus stop, and parking at Handegg is "eingeschränkt". Because the last ride up is 15:48, an evening arrival at the lake is on foot: from Handegg two hours and 500 metres on a T3 path, "an einigen Stellen leicht exponiert", and the circuit of the lake is T3 too, "zum Teil exponierte Stellen mit Absturzgefahr", in 2026 passing below the closed dam.710

The bus. PostAuto line 161 Meiringen to the Grimsel pass and Oberwald and line 171 Innertkirchen to Handegg serve the stop "Handegg, Gelmerbahn"; on a late-September day the last bus down leaves at 18:33 for Innertkirchen and Meiringen, the last direct 161 to Meiringen at 17:55. Arrivals from Meiringen in the morning at 08:19, 09:58 and 11:23.10

Fire and hunting. On 20 September 2026 the federal layers had the Grimsel region at "Mässige Gefahr" with "Keine Massnahmen in Kraft, Feuer möglich, jeweils mit der angebrachten Vorsicht"; no Bern fire ban was in force, and the fire ban of the Grimsel reserve starts 3.3 kilometres south. On slabs beside a reservoir in a wind-funnel valley that permission is worth little; a stove is the answer. The Bern hunting calendar has chamois and marmot from 10 to 30 September and red deer from 1 to 20 September and again from 10 October; the Gelmer basin and the Diechter are ordinary hunting ground on those dates, and inside the Kunzentännlen reserve, west of the dam, only deer may be hunted under the annual cantonal decision. Dogs on a lead and no drones in that reserve; dogs ride the funicular and do not enter the hut.211

  • Gelmerhütte SAC. 2'412 m, 2 km north-north-east of the lake, 50 places, half board CHF 103 (SAC CHF 83) plus CHF 3 tax, season to 25 October 2026, 033 973 11 80, two hours from the funicular's top station. The night that actually works here.9
  • The Diechter flat. Alp ground on the hut path, LV95 2'668'830 / 1'164'600, 2'180 m, 1.6 km north-north-east of the lake and 480 m below the hut, summer pasture of an unnamed holder, outside every reserve and rest zone, no rule against a night. A tip with a courtesy: tell the warden.810
  • Hotel Handeck. At the valley station, 1'400 m, open to 25 October 2026, 033 982 36 11; evening blasting noise in 2026.10
  • Motorhome pitches and campsites named on the operator's poster. Handeggli and Guttannen Dorf for a vehicle; Camping Grimselblick, Aareschlucht and Grund in Innertkirchen, Gadmen and Engstlen for a tent.6
  • The Wannisbortsee. Same commune, same alp parcel, 2'103 m on the west flank of the valley above Guttannen, three hours from the village, and this series' verdict there is legal for a night on the bench above the lake.4

General rules for wild camping

This applies wherever you sleep outside. At a reservoir it applies double: the level can rise in the night, the operator has said no on its own ground, and the fastest way to turn a request into a rule is to give someone a reason.

  • No fire. An open fire has no place in the mountains. A gas stove is enough.
  • Pitch late, strike early. Set up towards evening, gone again early. A bivouac is one night, not a base camp.
  • Leave no rubbish. Everything you carry up you carry down, organic scraps and toilet paper included.
  • At least 50 metres from any water for the big business, so you do not foul what people and livestock drink.
  • Stay small and quiet. A small group, no speaker, no drone, dogs on the lead, and the alp staff's word goes.

Disclaimer

This article reflects my research and assessment to the best of my knowledge, as of September 2026. It is based on the publicly accessible and official sources linked below. It does not replace legal advice and is not a binding statement of the current legal situation.

The verdict covers the Gelmersee and its shore, and it rests on the absence of any prohibition at the federal, cantonal and communal level, on the terrain, and on the published position of the operator of the reservoir for the shore ring. The ownership of that ring is inferred from the cadastre and the operator's filings, because canton Bern does not publish its land register. A published position can change, a board can appear, and the reservoir's level is set by the operator without notice. The Grimsel nature reserve and the Kunzentännlen wildlife reserve are real instruments with real boundaries that are not marked on the ground. Before every tour, check the current sources yourself and follow instructions on site. A genuine emergency bivouac in distress is a separate question from a planned camp. Anyone who spends the night outside bears responsibility for their own conduct and any consequences themselves. Hikebeast, Leon Helg and Saftladen GmbH accept no liability for decisions made on the basis of this text, and call on no one to break applicable law.

Frequently asked questions

Is wild camping allowed at the Gelmersee?
No, in practice. No federal, cantonal or communal norm bans a tent there, so nobody can be fined for one, but the map pin is water, the basin is granite slabs and a gravel torrent fan, the fifty-metre ring around the shore is the parcel that carries the dam and the intake, and the operator's Grimselwelt publishes that camping is not allowed in its area. In 2026 the lake is also drawn down for works and the dam crest is closed. Sleep in the Gelmerhütte or on the alp flat 1.6 kilometres up the Diechter.
Is there a fine?
Not under any text this report could find. The lake is in no federal game reserve and no wildlife rest zone, the cantonal wildlife reserve west of the dam only requires dogs on a lead and bans drones, the Grimsel nature reserve with its camping ban starts 3.3 kilometres south, canton Bern has no general camping norm, and Guttannen has no police or camping regulation. The Grimselwelt notice is an owner's notice, not a fixed penalty.
Where is the nearest legal-looking ground?
On the hut path 1.6 kilometres north-north-east of the lake: the alp flat beside the Diechterbach at about 2'180 metres, LV95 2'668'830 / 1'164'600, fifty by seventy metres at 0.6 to 4 degrees, registered summer pasture on the big alp parcel outside every reserve, 480 metres below the Gelmerhütte. No rule reaches it; its holder is not named publicly, so tell the hut warden and treat it as a tip, not a right.
Can I sleep at the Gelmerbahn's top station or on the dam?
No. The top station, the dam and its foot are the operator's works area on the same shore parcel, closed as a building site in 2026, and the three dam-foot cells also lie inside the Kunzentännlen wildlife reserve. The last ride up in September is 15:48 and the last down 16:00, so anyone at the lake at dusk is walking down to Handegg, two hours on a T3 path.
Can I light a fire, and what is the lake doing?
On 20 September 2026 no Bern fire ban was in force and the danger level was moderate, but the shore is rock and scrub in a windy basin; use a stove. The reservoir is drawn down for the pressure-shaft works until 2027 and its level is set by the operator without notice; the operator's webcam shows the current state, and the canton's own description of the drawn-down shore is silty banks that should not be walked on.
Leon Helg

Leon Helg

Swiss filmmaker and software developer. Spends his free time in the Swiss Alps and maps his favourite spots for Hikebeast. Posts as @leon.helg on Instagram and TikTok.

Swiss Guide Wildcamping Checker Color Grading

Sources

  1. Official federal geodata, identify service queried 20 September 2026 at the pin LV95 2'668'293.5 / 1'163'113.8 (WGS84 46.615792 / 8.3302012, the guide's own coordinate; gazetteer "See Gelmersee (BE), Guttannen" 2'668'271.75 / 1'163'076.75), swissALTI3D 1'848.2 m (lake surface), commune Guttannen from the current-year boundary, and at ten further cells named in the text, tolerance 0, a bogus-layer control returning HTTP 400 in every run and the positive control at 2'626'000 / 1'154'500 returning game reserve no. 3 Kiental. Only hit at every cell: BLN object 1507 "Berner Hochalpen und Aletsch-Bietschhorn-Gebiet (nördlicher Teil)", whose object sheet says "Nordöstlich des Grimselsees auf 1850 m ü. M. liegt der Gelmersee. Er wurde, zusammen mit dem Grimselsee, im Jahr 1929 gebaut." Empty everywhere: game reserves, wildlife rest zones, parks, floodplains, fens, raised bogs, mire landscapes, amphibian sites, Ramsar, Emerald, forest reserves, military. ÖREB layer: parcel 834 at the pin, 76 at the delta, north shore, dam foot and west shoulder, 875 at the bench and the Diechter flat. map.geo.admin.ch. ↩
  2. Canton Bern wildlife protection: Verordnung über den Wildtierschutz (WTSchV), BSG 922.63, with Anhang 1 (Stand 1 August 2024) and Anhang 2 (Stand 1 December 2024), and the cantonal WILDSG GeoPackage (170 areas). Nr. 26 "Kunzentännlen-Hinterstock": Kantonales Wildschutzgebiet, categories C/E/F, 191.48 ha, rechtsverbindlich, Beschlussjahr 2024, Schutzzeit 1 January to 31 December, binding text (bestimm_kt) in full: "Hunde sind an der Leine zu führen. Der Betrieb von zivilen, unbemannten Luftfahrzeugen (Modellflugzeuge, Drohnen) ist verboten."; zusatzinfo: "Das Gebiet kann für die Hirschjagd gemäss den Angaben der Wirtschafts-, Energie- und Umweltdirektion (WEU) in den jährlichen Festlegungen für die Jagdperiode geöffnet werden. Die übrige Jagd ist verboten." Polygon west of the dam (vertices 2'667'540 / 1'162'817, 2'667'675 / 1'162'586, 2'667'749 / 1'162'490), 0.0 ha overlap with the lake, 677 m from the pin, 1'242 m at bearing 259 from the east delta, containing the three dam-foot cells. The sentence "Freies/wildes Campieren und Biwakieren sind verboten" appears on 28 areas of Anhang 2, not on Nr. 26 and not on Nr. 13 Grimsel (3'126 m from the pin). Kantonales Naturschutzgebiet Grimsel, NSG-Nr. 5, RRB 4590 of 1 August 1958 as amended 1974 and 1989, Ziffer 5 lit. f "das Anzünden von Feuern, Kampieren und das Aufschlagen von Zelten", sanction Naturschutzgesetz BSG 426.11 art. 57 (CHF 100 to 50'000): perimeter in the cantonal NSG GeoPackage 3'126 m south of the pin, 3'297 m at bearing 200 from the delta, northern edge in this band at N 1'160'175; the Gelmer and Diechter basin and the hut are outside. Bern wildlife rest zones: none within 13 km of any type in the cantonal package. belex.sites.be.ch (WTSchV), RRB Grimsel NSG 5 (PDF), geo.apps.be.ch (WILDSG, NSG). ↩
  3. Canton Bern statutes read in full from the belex API on 20 September 2026, HTML-unescaped and lowercased, with positive controls: Kantonales Waldgesetz (KWaG) BSG 921.11, 154'293 characters, campier 0, zelt 0, biwak 0, lager 0, übernacht 0, controls "wald" 363, "busse" 9; Kantonale Waldverordnung (KWaV) BSG 921.111, 290'348 characters, zero camping terms, the three "lager" hits being "Lagergebäuden"; Wassernutzungsgesetz (WNG) BSG 752.41, 155'209 characters, campier 0, zelt 0, "ufer" only in the liability article, nothing on public access to reservoir shores, controls "artikel" 63, "busse" 9; Naturschutzgesetz (NSchG) BSG 426.11, 215'159 characters, zero camping terms, controls "gemeinde" 112, "busse" 9. The absence of a Bern camping norm of general application is established and re-verified here. belex.sites.be.ch (WNG), KWaG, NSchG. ↩
  4. Einwohnergemeinde Guttannen, Reglemente page recounted 20 September 2026: 31 documents in 16 rubrics, no Polizeireglement, no Ordnungsbussenreglement, no Camping-Reglement, "Zurzeit sind keine Publikationen aufgeschaltet"; a crawl of all 36 pages of guttannen.ch returns campier 0, camping 0, zelt 0, wohnmobil 0, verbot 0 (controls gelmer 7, biwak 1 = "Aarbiwak"). Baureglement Guttannen of 4 December 2010, consolidated to 7 December 2019, art. 463 Landschaftsschutzgebiet (construction clause: paras. 2 to 5 on Bauten, Anlagen and Geländeformen; para. 5 permits Schutzhütten im Hochgebirge and KWO works), art. 701 para. 2 Busse bis Fr. 5'000 for breaches of the baurechtliche Grundordnung. Cantonal gazette, judicial prohibitions (ZPO art. 258), rubric GB-BE: keyword Guttannen 0, Gelmer 0, Kraftwerke Oberhasli 0; controls rubric alone 554, keyword Guttannen alone 393, unfiltered 2'847'360; register reaches back to 2020 only. Bäuertgemeinde Guttannen, full site: campier 0, camping 0, zelt 0, biwak 0, verbot 0 against a control of two "Bäuertversammlung"; alps named Handegg ("Die Weideflächen erstrecken sich von Guttannen bis Kunzentännlen"), Ägerstein, Steinhausalp, Wisstanni, Fahrlouwi, Ärlen, 866 ha of forest; no alp named Gelmer. guttannen.ch, Reglemente, Baureglement Guttannen (PDF), amtsblatt.be.ch, baeuertgemeinde-guttannen.ch. ↩
  5. ÖREB cadastre of canton Bern, extracts with geometry fetched 20 September 2026 for parcels Guttannen 834 (EGRID CH561246350152, 619'239 m², 17 restrictions, 17 surfaces), 76 (CH673512814621, 1'692'937 m², 25 restrictions, 24 surfaces and 1 line), 875 (CH980246351213, 27'946'313 m², 70 restrictions, 64 surfaces, 8 lines, 3 points) and 1009 (CH943546122287, 11'327'216 m², 41 surfaces), every surface parsed and point-tested. Parcel 834 is the reservoir polygon (bounds 2'667'518 to 2'668'889 / 1'162'490 to 1'163'693). Parcel 76 is a MultiPolygon of 169.3 ha with one hole, the reservoir, forming a ring of about 50 m around the shore (east delta cell 37 m from the water and 17 m inside the ring's outer edge; north shore cell 37 m and 21 m) and extending down the Gelmerbahn corridor to the valley station at 2'666'637 / 1'162'858. At every cell: Landwirtschaftszone, Landschaftsschutzgebiet (Baureglement art. 463), Gefahrenhinweis, Gewässerschutzbereich üB; Grundwasserschutzzonen, Grundwasserschutzareale, Waldreservate and Kantonale Naturschutzgebiete are NotConcerned themes on all four parcels. Federal agricultural layer: no registered use on parcel 76 at any cell, "Sömmerungsweiden" on parcel 875 at the north-shore cell, the bench and the Diechter flat. Cantonal gazette: "Guttannen, Sanierung Druckschacht KW Handeck 1, Baubewilligungsgesuch" of 15 November 2023, affected parcels "74, 76, 834, 875, 996, 1201, 1193, 879, 997, 1189, 953", coordinates of the Handeck 1 power station and the shaft; Fischereiverfügung of the Fischereiinspektorat of 21 April 2021: the Gelmersee "soll aus betrieblichen Gründen durch die Kraftwerke Oberhasli AG im Winter 2021/22 entleert werden ... Aus Sicherheitsgründen sollen während der Revision des Grundablasses die schlickigen Ufer und die allfällige Eisschicht des abgesenkten Sees sowie die Installationen der KWO nicht begangen werden"; plan approval "Erneuerung der Talstation der Standseilbahn Handegg, Gelmersee" of 22 April 2026. Bauinventar Guttannen: "Kraftwerk, Gelmer", the dam of 1925 to 1929, schützenswert, 2'667'646 / 1'162'666. oereb2.apps.be.ch, parcel 76, amtsblatt.be.ch (Gelmersee), Bauinventar, Kraftwerk Gelmer. ↩
  6. Grimselwelt (Kraftwerke Oberhasli AG), guest information, consulted 20 September 2026. Section "Campieren & Parkieren": "Das Übernachten in Wohnmobilen und das Campieren sind hier nicht erlaubt. Bitte benützen Sie die offiziellen Camping- und Stellplätze. Herzlichen Dank und einen schönen Aufenthalt in der Grimselwelt." Linked "Infoblatt Camping": "No camping" poster, 50 x 70 cm edition of 4 June 2021 and A2 edition of 11 May 2022, carrying the names Einwohnergemeinde Guttannen and Innertkirchen, map of the whole Grimselwelt including the Gelmerbahn and Gelmersee, listing Camping Grimselblick, Aareschlucht, Grund and Wyler in Innertkirchen, Gadmen and Engstlen, and Stellplätze Guttannen Dorf, Handeggli, PP Gadmen, PP Triftbahn, PP Tällibahn. Section "Sicherheit an Gewässern": "Auf sämtlichen Stauseen ist das Ausüben von Wassersport gesetzlich verboten. Die Flüsse können durch starken Niederschlag und durch den Betrieb der Wasserkraftanlagen plötzlich stark ansteigen. Es ist gefährlich sich im Flussbett unterhalb einer Wasserfassung oder Stauanlage aufzuhalten. Meiden Sie Bachbette, seien Sie aufmerksam und beachten Sie im Einzugsgebiet die Warntafeln am Flusslauf." No "Betreten der Uferzone verboten", no bathing ban and no shore perimeter is published anywhere on grimselwelt.ch or grimselstrom.ch. grimselwelt.ch, Gäste-Infos, No camping poster 2022 (PDF), No camping poster 2021 (PDF). ↩
  7. The reservoir and the 2026 works. Kraftwerke Oberhasli AG: "Die Staumauer am Gelmersee wurde zur selben Zeit wie die Grimselstaumauer (bis 1932) gebaut, und der See hat ein Nutzinhalt von 13 Millionen Kubikmeter. Die KWO nutzt das Wasser aus dem Gelmersee für die Stromproduktion im Kraftwerk Handeck 1. Der See liegt 1850 Meter über Meer."; dam sheet: Baujahr 1929, Höhe 35 m, Kronenlänge 370 m, Gewichtsmauer. Grimselwelt, Gelmerbahn page: "Der Bergsee ist ein Stausee, sein Wasserstand kann daher je nach Nutzung und laufenden Arbeiten variieren." and "Baustelle am Gelmersee: Die Staumauer Gelmersee ist im Sommer 2026 aufgrund einer Baustelle nicht begehbar. Der Wanderweg führt vor der Staumauer durch, sodass die Rundwanderung um den Gelmersee wie gewohnt möglich ist." Hotel Handeck, rooms page 2026: blasting "abends und in der ersten Hälfte der Nacht", and "Sie befinden sich ... im Konzessionsgebiet der Kraftwerke Oberhasli AG (KWO)". KWO webcam Gelmersee (Roundshot), frame of 20 September 2026 13:00: water well below the dam crest, a bare band of rock around the basin, scaffolding, a works pontoon, ducts and a site container at the intake. Berner Zeitung (colour): pressure shaft Handeck relined with pipes flown in until spring 2027. Rundwanderung Gelmersee: 2 h, 4.7 km, 170 m, T3, "Zum Teil exponierte Stellen mit Absturzgefahr, Geröllflächen, weglose Schrofen". grimselstrom.ch, Gelmersee, grimselwelt.ch, Gelmerbahn, grimselwelt.ch, Webcams, Rundwanderung Gelmersee. ↩
  8. Terrain, 20 and 21 September 2026: swissALTI3D via the federal profile service on 25 m and 10 m grids over 900 m around the lake centroid 2'668'270 / 1'163'086, water masked with the OpenStreetMap reservoir ring (relation 1659901, 61.5 ha); 5 m profiles across the Alplibach fan (from 1'848.2 m at the water to 1'883.7 m at 200 m east along N 1'163'280, 18 percent) and the Diechterbach fan. Twelve dry cells at or under 7 degrees: dam face and foot 2'667'620 / 1'162'586 (2.5 degrees, 1'822 m) and 2'667'595 / 1'162'561, top-station flat 2'667'745 / 1'162'486, all three 28 to 35 m from the Bauinventar dam polygon and inside WSG 26; east delta strip best 10 m cell 2'668'870 / 1'163'150 (4.3 degrees, 1'852.2 m, 33 m from the shore, 2.2 m above the 1'850 m Stauziel), everything higher on the fan 9 degrees or more; north tip 2'668'595 / 1'163'736 (7.5 degrees, in the Diechterbach channel) and 2'668'570 / 1'163'761 (block field); bench 2'667'995 / 1'163'711 (4.3 degrees, 2'329 m, 480 m of pathless slab above the lake). Names from swissNAMES3D: the east inflow is the Alplibach (from Tellti), the Diechterbach enters at the north tip, "Heubalm" is the rock peninsula on the north-west shore. Land cover: federal land-cover statistics 2013/18 at the delta "Gebüschwald" (every survey since 1979/85), north cells "Wasserläufe" and unproductive grass, dam cells rock; swissTLM3D forest polygons rendered and sampled against the height model: closed "Wald" only on the Handegg flank below the dam, maximum 1'558 m, median 1'464 m, "Gebüschwald" from 1'484 m to 2'117 m ringing the lake, 20 to 24 m from the delta cells. The Diechter flat: 2'668'830 / 1'164'570 to 1'164'640, 2'177 to 2'181 m, 27 contiguous 10 m cells at 0.6 to 4 degrees, parcel 875, registered Sömmerungsweide, unproductive grass over Geröll, 2'068 m from WSG 26, 4'691 m from NSG 5, 1.6 km north-north-east of the lake centroid and 480 m from the hut. map.geo.admin.ch (orthophoto, Diechter flat), profile service. ↩
  9. Gelmerhütte SAC (Sektion Brugg), pages consulted 20 September 2026: "auf 2412 m ü. M. Sie verfügt über 50 Schlafplätze"; coordinates 2'669'240 / 1'164'840 (gazetteer 2'669'237 / 1'164'845), 2.0 km north-north-east of the lake centroid; prices "Halbpension & Übernachtung Normaltarif Erwachsene CHF 103.-", "SAC Mitglieder Erwachsene SAC CHF 83.-", "Zusätzlich Kurtaxe: CHF 3.- für Erwachsene"; "Geplanter Saisonschluss ist am 25. Oktober 2026"; hut phone 033 973 11 80, booking via the SAC online system; access "ab Bergstation Gelmerbahn zur Gelmerhütte 2 Stunden, 550 Höhenmeter, 3 km, Südufer Gelmersee plus 15 min", "ab Parkplatz Chüenzentennlen via Gelmersee zur Gelmerhütte 3 Stunden, 820 Höhenmeter, 5 km", "ab Talstation Gelmerbahn via Parkplatz Chüenzentennlen & Gelmersee 4 Stunden, 1000 Höhenmeter, 7.5 km"; hut rebuild 2025 to 2026 for the centenary; no tent rule on any page (zelt 0, biwak 0, camping 0 across 16 pages). gelmerhuette.ch, Preise, Zustieg. ↩
  10. Access and beds, checked 20 to 21 September 2026. Grimselwelt, Gelmerbahn: "Eine Steigung von 106 Prozent", 12 minutes, "Öffnungszeiten 6. Juni bis 25. Oktober 2026, Juni, September, Oktober: 9.00 bis 16.00 Uhr (letzte Bergfahrt 15.48 Uhr, letzte Talfahrt 16.00 Uhr), Juli, August: 08.36 bis 16.48 Uhr", "Erwachsene retour CHF 40. / einfach CHF 20., Kinder 6 bis 15 Jahre retour CHF 20. / einfach CHF 10.", vouchers to be exchanged "bis spätestens 15 Minuten vor Abfahrt bei der Bahnkasse", valley station in 2026 "über steile Treppen und provisorische Wanderwege", about 15 minutes from car park or bus. Wanderung Handeck to Gelmersee: 2 h, 5 km, 500 m, T3, "an einigen Stellen leicht exponiert". PostAuto stop "Handegg, Gelmerbahn", timetable read for 23 and 26 September 2026: line 161 Meiringen to Grimsel Passhöhe / Oberwald and line 171 Innertkirchen, Grimseltor to Handegg; arrivals from Meiringen 08:19, 09:58, 11:23, 12:20, 13:20, 13:58, 15:53; last bus down 18:33 (171, Meiringen 19:13), last direct 161 to Meiringen 17:55. Hotel und Naturresort Handeck (KWO), 1'400 m: 33 double, 2 single, 4 family rooms, open 5 June to 25 October 2026, 033 982 36 11. Bäuertgemeinde Guttannen contacts: info@baeuertgemeinde-guttannen.ch, Obfrau Barbara Willener 079 252 01 10, Alpkäserei Handegg 077 522 60 61. grimselwelt.ch, Gelmerbahn, Wanderung Handeck Gelmersee, Hotel Handeck, sbb.ch. ↩
  11. Fire and hunting, 20 September 2026. Federal layer "Waldbrandgefahr, Präventionsmassnahmen der Kantone" for "Grimselregion (BE)": "Keine Massnahmen in Kraft", "Feuer möglich, jeweils mit der angebrachten Vorsicht", valid from 9 September 2026; federal warning layer: "Mässige Gefahr", valid from 11 September 2026. Canton Bern hunting calendar (WEU, "Jagdzeiten im Kanton Bern"): Patent A Gämse and Murmeltier 10 to 30 September; Patent C Rothirsch 1 to 20 September and from 10 October to mid-November; Schontage Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in October and November; inside Wildschutzgebiet Nr. 26 only the deer hunt under the annual Festlegungen. map.geo.admin.ch (Waldbrandgefahr), weu.be.ch, Jagdzeiten (PDF). ↩